EU LCS – day 3 recap

Day 3 finishes off the first week of the EU LCS. With both series featuring first appearances from relative newcomers, Mysterious Monkeys and Ninja’s in Pyjamas. It will be very interesting to see how the players stack up against the more experienced teams.

H2K vs Mysterious Monkeys

The first game of the day had fans wondering what Mysterious Monkeys were going to bring to the table, and if H2K were going have as successful a series as they did against Splyce. With the gold lead fluctuating in the early game, it was veterans H2K that were able to turn that lead into a win. Individually Mysterious Monkeys showed good mechanical skill, but it was H2K’s map awareness and experience that proved their dominance in this game. While a duo marksman composition can be risky, H2K should be happy with their performance in game one.

The second game saw the pressure on Mysterious Monkeys to shine, they built their team composition around allowing mid-laner “CozQ’s” Cassiopeia to scale heavily into the late game. However H2K’s continued map pressure and dominance across all three lanes prevented Mysterious Monkeys from putting that plan into fruition. Despite some obvious flaws in decision making and execution, for a team just coming from the Challenger series, Mysterious Monkeys should be pleased with their first appearance at LCS. Likewise, H2K can be confident in their performance thus far in the summer split. A victory in this series means they have won not only every game, but have done so convincingly too.

Player of the series goes to mid-laner “Febiven”. His mechanical outplay on Lucian in the first game, and lane dominance with Viktor in the second, was certainly a contributing factor in his team victory. Even though H2K haven’t had the hardest first week of EU LCS, their performances in these first two series should ease the pressure for the weeks ahead.

Fnatic vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

In their first appearance on stage, NiP were looking to showcase their potential to the rest of Europe. Although NiP did try to make some active plays early on, jungler “Shook” especially making efforts to counter-jungle, it was Fnatics team communication and synergy that allowed them to capitalise on their opponents mistakes. For a team with as much experience as Fnatic, it was easy for them to snowball their early lead into complete control of the map, and as NiP were unable to execute their compositions strengths, it was only a matter of time before Fnatic gained the victory.

The second game was unlike any other so far this week. Both teams looked strong throughout all stages of the game, and in contrast to game one, NiP were able to hold off the advances of Fnatic for much longer. Between a stolen Baron, and an excellent individual play by “Shook” and “Nagne” NiP should walk away satisfied despite the defeat. With so much focus on superstar ADC “Rekkles” it enabled mid-laner “Caps” to go almost untouched in team fights, allowing him to pick up many kills. One thing is for certain, if Ninjas in Pyjamas continue to improve as they did between game one and two, they will become a more formidable team than was originally predicted.

Once again it was Fnatics mid laner “Caps” that earned Player of the Series, cementing him as one of the teams’ top stars. With a wide champion pool and high mechanical skill, this could mean that some weight will be lifted from “Rekkles’s” shoulders, and give Fnatic a second hard carry on their line-up. With the meta changing back to the ‘protect the carry’ compositions, having a second carry on the team will certainly give this team an edge.

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